Iran: 7 nuclear projects completed with IAEA, 9 more underway

AEOI spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said Iran has completed 7 national nuclear projects with cooperation of the IAEA and at least 9 more research projects are currently under way.

Spokesman of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran made the remark among reporters on Sunday, adding “the seven projects that were completed with the help of the IAEA are related to nuclear plants, spent fuel, nuclear security, radiopharmaceuticals, reactors and heavy water. There are currently at least nine other research projects under way in the fields of radiopharmaceuticals, uranium, fishery, agriculture and water.”

“Since Bushehr nuclear plant came on stream for generating electricity, we have saved up on an equivalent of 27 million barrels of oil from fossil fuels,” he said.

He went on to add that 40 types of radiopharmaceuticals are being produced in the country and have been exported to a number of countries, including European ones, since the end of last year; “production of new and exclusive types of radiopharmaceuticals are also on agenda, including the radioisotope MO99 which is the result of uranium fission and monopolized by a very few countries, used as the main substance in several important radio-drugs,” he said.

Noting the finalization of heavy water marketing to Russia, he said “the AEOI has also launched the production of heavy water with 99.95% purity, which is the highest level of purity.”

“The American side has been very demanding on the technical field, but we will not give them one iota of point in regard to our nuclear deal,” Kamalvandi stressed.

He maintained that the AEOI has been in talks with Germany, Spain, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, China, Kazakhstan and many other countries about nuclear cooperation.

Kamalvandi further added that the financial issues for the construction of the two nuclear power plants have been resolved thanks to the favorable order by President Rouhani, and the construction will start in the near future.